This paper describes a longitudinal study of over 10 years of university pre-incubation in Wales, using case studies of incubated businesses to track their performance since 2001. Surviving ‘graduated’ businesses were investigated and quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to profile the current status of these businesses and assess their development following the incubation process. It was noted that the off-site location was beneficial in recruiting both graduate and non-graduate clients and gave rise to a proactive and enabling business environment. Overall, a positive contribution by the pre-incubator was found, in terms of turnover generated and jobs created in an area of economic underperformance.
AbettiP.A. (2004), ‘Government-supported incubators in the Helsinki region of Finland: Infrastructure, results and best practices’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 29, pp 19–40.
2.
AllenD.N.McCluskeyR. (1990), ‘Structure, policy, services and performance in the business incubator industry’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 15, No 2, pp 61–77.
3.
AlbertP.GaynorL. (2003), ‘National contexts, incubator families and trends in incubation – views from four countries’, International Council for Small Business, 48th World Conference, Northern Ireland, 15–18 June 2003, ICSB, Washington DC.
4.
AlbertP.GaynorL. (2006), ‘Technology business incubation management: Lessons of experience’, in BernasconiM.HarrisS.MoenstedM., eds, High-Tech Entrepreneurship: Managing Innovation, Variety and Uncertainty, Routledge, London, pp 131–143.
5.
BøllingtoftA.UlhøiJ.P. (2005), ‘The networked business incubator – leveraging entrepreneurial agency?’, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol 20, No 2, pp 265–290.
6.
BroadfootC.SheenM. (2002), ‘A guide to pre-incubator best practice: Manual describing the best practice scheme which is transferable to any region’, University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde, available from: http://www.usine.uni-bonn.de, last accessed 20 September 2012.
7.
DBIS, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2010), ‘Small and medium-sized enterprise statistics for the UK and Regions 2009’, SME Statistics, London, available from: http://enterprise.statistics@bis.gov.uk, last accessed 20 September 2012.
8.
DicksonA. (2004), ‘Pre-incubation and the New Zealand business incubation industry’, Report for Incubators New Zealand, available at: http://www.incubators.org.nz/content/news.
9.
EisenhardtK.M. (1989), ‘Building theories from case study research’, The Academy of Management Review, Vol 14, No 4, pp 532–550.
10.
EshunJ.P.Jr (2009), ‘Business incubation as a strategy’, Business Strategy Series, Vol 10, No 3, pp 156–166.
FryF.L. (1987), ‘The role of incubators in small business planning’, American Journal of Small BusinessVol 12, No 1, pp 51–62.
13.
HackettS.M.DiltsD.M. (2004a), ‘A real options-driven theory of business incubation’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 29, pp 41–54.
14.
HackettS.M.DiltsD.M. (2004b), ‘A systematic review of business incubation research’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 29, pp 55–82.
15.
HannonP.D. (2004), ‘How do you want to grow your firms: Natural development or battery farmed? – a reflection on the discourse of incubation’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 12, No 1, pp 57–75.
16.
HarmanP.ReadL. (2003), ‘Supporting incubation in the UK through the development of benchmarks, UKBI’, International Council for Small Business, 48th World Conference, Northern Ireland, 15–18 June 2003, ICSB, Washington DC.
17.
JonesP.MillerC.PickernellD.PackhamG. (2011), ‘The role of education, training and skills development in social inclusion: The University of the Heads of the Valley case study’, Education and Training, Vol 53, No 1, pp 638–651.
18.
LalkakaR. (1997), Lessons from International Experience for the Promotion of Business Incubation Systems in Emerging Economies, Number 3: Vienna, Small and Medium Industries Branch, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Vienna.
19.
MartinF. (1997), ‘Business incubators and enterprise development: Neither tried nor tested?’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 4, No 1, pp 3–13.
20.
MianS.FayolleA.LamineW. (2012), ‘Building sustainable regional platforms for incubating science and technology businesses: Evidence from US and French science and technology parks’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol 13, No 4, pp 235–247.
PattonD.MarlowS. (2011), ‘University technology business incubators: Helping new entrepreneurial firms to learn to grow’, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol 29, No 5, pp 911–926.
23.
PetersL.RiceM.SundararajanM. (2004), ‘The role of incubators in the entrepreneurial process’, Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol 29, No 1, pp 83–91.
24.
RiceM. (2002), ‘Co-production of business assistance in business incubators: An exploratory study’, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol 17, No 2, pp 163–187.
25.
RobsonC. (2002), Real World Research, 2nd ed, Blackwell, Oxford.
26.
StephensS.OnofreiG. (2012), ‘Measuring business incubation outcomes: An Irish case study’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol 13, No 4, pp 277–285.
27.
UKBI, United Kingdom Business Incubation (2004), ‘The national business incubation framework summary report’, available from website http://www.ukbi.co.uk, last accessed 20 September 2012.
28.
UoG, University of Glamorgan (2011), University Strategy 2010–2015, available from: http://www.Glamorgan.ac.uk/strategy, last accessed 20 September 2012.
VoiseyP.GornallL.JonesP.ThomasB. (2005), ‘Developing a model for a “ladder of incubation” linked to higher and further education institutions in Wales’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 19, No 6, pp 445–456.
31.
VoiseyP.GornallL.JonesP.ThomasB. (2006), ‘The measurement of success in a business incubation project’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 13, No 3, pp 454–468.
32.
WilsonP. (2008), ‘Fostering entrepreneurship and innovation through business incubators: A comparative analysis of the role of European business and innovation centres’, unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Newcastle University, Newcastle, see: https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/1026/1/Wilson%2008.pdf.
33.
YinR.K. (2003), Case Study Research Design and Methods, 3rd ed, Applied Social Research Methods Series, Volume 5, Sage, London.
